Zope & Python

[Leon Booyens]

Hi,

I asked one of our specialists if we should not consider using Zope instead
of tomcat and Python instead of Java.

His reply was as follows :

Do you agree with all these comments ?

Leon.

The reply :
Leon,

I have had a look at the "Zope" application server at www.zope.org, and feel
that it cannot be considered for use (on the server side) in an enterprise
application because of the following weaknesses:

The business-logic extensions must be written in Python, which is a fine
"glue language" for whipping up scripts and small applications in as short a
time and as few lines of code as possible, but is simply not robust enough
for enterprise applications.  For example, it does not allow compile-time
enforcement of interface specifications, as C++ and Java do.

a) It does not even support the concept of private, protected and public
instance variables and methods. The whole concept of "design-by-contract"
relies on the availability of these features.  You cannot rely on
programmers to have the discipline to comply with (nonexistent) interface
specifications.

b) If we develop web applications in accordance with the Java Servlet API,
we can upgrade the platform from Apache+Tomcat running on Linux to Sun's
Java Webserver, or IBM Websphere, or BEA Weblogic (BEA is the industry
leader in OLTP middleware), or any number of other commercial
implementations.  What is the upgrade path for Zope?

c) Java allows a wide choice of compilers, debugging and profiling tools,
modelling tools, middleware, and libraries for everything under the sun.  It
is a mainstream language for commercial applications, with a relatively
large pool of programming expertise and with support from most major
industry players (besides Microsoft). Python may be gaining popularity, but
is way behind Java.